Ferguson points finger at his defenders for demise of United's title challenge

Saturday 21 January 2006 18.43 EST
First published on Saturday 21 January 2006 18.43 EST

Sir Alex Ferguson will blame his defenders in a full and frank admission to Manchester United's supporters tomorrow that he no longer holds any hope of catching Chelsea at the top of the Premiership. Without going so far as to name names, Ferguson makes it clear in his programme notes for the visit of Liverpool that he believes Rio Ferdinand and Mikaël Silvestre, among others, should shoulder much of the responsibility.

"We have to do a lot better in that department," he says. "If you look at the statistics of Chelsea, and Liverpool, you will see they just don't give goals away. They have each conceded 11 in the league. Compare that with our goals-against column of 20 and you will see where we need to improve."

With a 16-point gulf to Chelsea, Ferguson acknowledges that losing to Manchester City has killed off their already slender hopes of catching the Premiership leaders. "It's become a battle royal between Liverpool and us for the runners-up position," he says. "It would be nice to say we are competing with them for the title but realistically Chelsea are in the driving seat for the championship and it's difficult to see them conceding the number of points necessary to let anyone else into the race."

Never before has Ferguson had to concede the league in January but he makes it clear he has already accepted a third successive season without the title, the longest record of domestic failure at Old Trafford since the first of his eight successes in 1993. The next priority, he says, is to finish above Liverpool. "We plan to get as close as possible to Chelsea but it's also vital we don't lose sight of the fact there is a mighty challenge for second place. To finish as runners-up is no mean achievement and it comes with automatic qualification for the Champions League."

Ferguson will be hampered again tomorrow by the absence of Paul Scholes, who is to see a second specialist next week about his problems with his vision since the Birmingham City match on December 28. "We've had him checked out by the best man in Manchester but we're getting a second opinion to see if we can clarify what the problem is." Ferguson said last night.

Rafael Benítez has suggested he would like to match Ferguson's feat of staying 20 years at his club, though he intends to build an empire at Liverpool more successful even than that at Manchester United. "If you're happy and can win trophies with a big club, with good players, then that's the ideal situation when you're a manager, so why not stay 20 years here?" said Benítez. "I'd love to try and win as many trophies as Sir Alex has, perhaps even more. It wouldn't be normal for someone to stay at the same club that length of time in Spain - normally there it's more like one year, or even one week - but I enjoy training, coaching and working in a big club with the chance to win trophies. If I can do that for 20 years, then great.

"You have to learn to cope with the pressure, and Sir Alex has done that. You have to stay calm and realise that after every Sunday comes a Monday. It's difficult to stay calm, but that's sometimes the difference between a good and a bad manager. After a storm, you have to keep your chin up."